South Island sojourn part 2

We left off the last blog about to return to one of our favourite NZ hikes - the Routeburn Track. We did the full walk nearly two years ago with Matt's mum and dad Clare and Pete and absolutely loved it. This time around getting booked into huts over the Christmas hols would have required serious advance organisation so we decided to get up to the highest point and back to the start in one day, making for a long day walk but a varied and beautiful one. 

It was stunning!

Height order again

Matt rocking out on top of the world

Romance

Bromance

Cooling our hot toots!

The classic Routeburn shot

Happy reflection shadows!

We of course celebrated our day with a bottle of bubbles on arrival at our beaut of a campsite a short drive from the trailhead.

Successful catching

Chilling in the evening sun

A relaxing day at the campsite followed with an evening of cheese, dessert wine and cards.

Van party

The next morning we were greeted by torrential rain - perfect for a day spent in the vans travelling. A quick hop back to Queenstown, then onto Cromwell (a bit of cheeky wine tasting), Clyde and down to Roxburgh for berries and real fruit ice cream!

Deeeeluscious!!!

All of a sudden New Year's Eve night was approaching and we hadn't made a plan. No bother - with the torrential rain and gale force winds returning we decided tonight was the night to freedom camp. We parked up by the beach south of Dunedin, erected a shelter between the two vans and got cooking a gourmet meal of steak and chips. Ridiculously tasty!

Chefs trying not to get rained on

Happy New Year!

Thankfully, by morning the storm had passed through and we zoomed into Dunedin, picked up some pretty radical mountain bikes and headed off for a day on the Otago Peninsula. Matt and I had done a similar ride last year with our road bikes. This time we could take a 'short cut' off road involving extreme climbing but incredible views!

You beauty!

Kiwi awesomeness

We had planned a special stop en route to the 'Penguin Place' - a very special reserve which cares for yellow eyed penguins in the wild. Seals hang out there too...

Lazy days

But we were super excited to get this close to baby penguins!

Soon to become yellow-eyed

Tour complete we were soon zooming back along the coast to Dunedin, via mine and Katie's spiritual home.

Broad squared

A lovely evening out in Dunedin followed with an early start the next morning. This was Matt's third time in Dunedin and he finally got to visit the world's steepest residential street - Baldwin Street in the north of the city. Actually pretty impressive!

Really steep!

The only time in my life being as tall as my sister

On the wonk

A return to the Moeraki boulders followed. 

A very big ball

Happy pose

That evening, after a bit of an epic drive we pulled into the lakeside campsite at Tekapo and were greeted by a fantastic sunset.

Lovely!

Our van formation again

A chilled time ensued (with the exception of a very sweaty run and some stargazing advice at the top of Mt St John, one of the best stargazing spots in the world!)

Time was ticking by now and we were soon doing the last big convoy drive up to Kaikoura. 

Evening sunshine in Kaikoura

We visited Kaikoura our first Christmas here and had enjoyed a beautiful walk around the peninsula made all the more beautiful by beers and food stops en route.

Not a bad pitstop

A bit more seal spotting and a couple of dolphins playing out at sea made the walk just as memorable as the first time we did it.

Are we really leaving this place??

Happy hikers

That evening we were treated to a very special meal courtesy of Jamie's mum Anne. Unfortunately we don't have any photos to capture the excitement - all we can say is THANK YOU so much for treating us to our first taste of crayfish - caught fresh that morning and served whole (at least the boys had a whole one each!) It was really delicious and a lovely way to round out our time on the South Island together.

We left Katie and Jamie behind in Kaikoura the next morning where they were booked in for a morning of swimming with dolphins! We zipped up to the ferry at Picton and parked Carrie up for the crossing amongst the train carriages!

Last ferry crossing

We had a couple of days to wend our way back up to Auckland which we filled with wine tasting (at Martinborough and Hawkes Bay), beer sampling (at the Tui brewery), a visit to the bucket list destination of Castlepoint (awesome recommendation Kate and Nick) and strolling through the historic towns of Greytown, Carterton and Masterton.

Castlepoint - what a spot

Right at the top

Quite

We were soon back in Auckland and collecting Katie and Jamie from the airport where we had time for one last evening together...

Yummy Korean dinner

And a few hours the next day at a local beach...

Rangitoto from Kohimarama beach

Fush and Chup lunch

Thank you Katie and Jamie for coming all this way to see us - we had an absolutely ball. What a way to spend our last Kiwi Christmas!

Kiwi Christmas No.3 (with special guests) Part 1!

The final countdown may be upon us (more on leaving NZ soon) but over the last month we've managed to fit in a lot of fun times. Mainly due to the arrival of Katie and Jamie for four weeks over Christmas and New Year!

Airport pick up - excitement all round!

We were both keen to show off everything NZ has to offer from day one. Unfortunately, the first weekend our visitors were here, NZ decided to show off its very worst weather - also known as torrential rain and gale force winds for two days. Luckily - we had booked a bach in the Coromandel, which whilst not 100% watertight did allow us to stay holed up inside whilst having a monster catch up over drinks.

First bubbles of the trip -
France's finest (Moet) - can NZ compete?

Reprising Westlife's chord changes

Attempting to leave the village of Hahei - easier said
than done when driving through fords!

So, that's probably enough about that weekend. Not an auspicious start to the supposed kiwi summer...

After fitting in a quick week of work whilst Katie and Jamie kindly drove Carrie down to the South Island for us, Matt and I boarded our private jet (OK, not quite) and popped down to Blenheim.

About to board one of Air New Zealand's smaller aircraft

Some of you might remember reading about our last two visits to the Marlborough wine region. If you don't - the following should cover it, just with the addition of the best two people we know to taste wine with!

Starting as we mean to go on at Brancott Estate

My sister with me in New Zealand - super exciting!

Matt with his co-bro enjoying a pre cuddle giggle

The only way to travel between the vineyards

Time for a sit down (and some more wine)

Vollbrachts + Vines = Smiles

The summer had arrived, and the holiday really had started. A quick game of tennis later and the van packed up with a few bottles for the road and we were off to our next stop...

Us all impersonating Katie's finger wagging - she claims
she didn't after hitting a cross court winner. We disagree

Where else could our next stop be but beautiful Nelson - home of Kiwi mates Mark and Janelle, mini mate Emmett and new addition Archie (M&J's Jack Russell). Matt and I popped by to their lovely new house for a barbie and beers, whilst Katie and Jamie got settled into their rental campervan.

Emmett doing a perfect impression of his dad (minus the beer)

Brekkie on the beach just outside Nelson

Our next destination - the Abel Tasman. This was our third Christmas in this beaut spot and we had a cracking few days.

Team Cope/Vollbracht - best spot in the campsite

A spot of kayaking

A bit of swimming

Some cheeky bum grabbing from Jamie

A bit more swimming - this time in a refreshing stream

The rejuvenation of the Christmas punch

Keeping tabs on the wine list
and Christmas points

Christmas lunch, courtesy of Matt's awesome barbequing skills

Tucking in

Thoroughly refreshed we were soon heading down the west coast with a mammoth drive getting us all the way to Okarito Lagoon.

Fish and Chip stop in Greymouth

Sand fly ridden Okarito - only one
thing for it - build a massive fire!

Followed by a quick stop at Franz Josef Glacier...

Franz Josef waterfalls - spot Matt -
he's diddy for once

 And Moana's world-famous-in-NZ white bait fritter stall

YUM!

Before we knew it, we were back to the land of the enormous mountains, crystal clear lakes and hiking opportunities a plenty.

Matt admiring the view

We fitted in a couple of awesome walks whilst in the Wanaka/Queenstown area - first up, Roy's Peak (scene of Matt's nudist moment last year). Thankfully his pants stayed on this time.

We can't get enough of this view!

Happy hikers in height order!

This was only the warm up though - with the next day seeing a return visit for Matt and I to the Routeburn track... to be blogged soon!